Furnace



Dec. 29, 1936. I R, BEERS 2,065,556

FURNACE Filed July 16, 1934 INVENTOR 730% C6 Beer/s ATTO RN EYS Patented Dec. 29, 1936 FURNACE Royce L. Beers, Detroit, Mich, assignor to Detroit Stoker Company, Detroit, Mich, a corporation of Michigan Application July 16, 1934, Serial No. 735,507

4 Claims. (01. -44) Y The invention relates to furnaces of that type known as under-feed and forms a continuation in part of my former application for patent Serial No. 627,072, filed July 30, 1932 which matured in Patent No. 1,989,661, issued February 5, 1935. The parent application included a construction of stoker and a construction of retort, and the subject matter of the present application is the retort construction.

In the installation of under-feed furnaces for various purposes, such for instance as with various constructions of boiler settings, it is necessary to adjust the dimensions of the furnace construction to the available space. Thus in some instances the space available for the retorts is greater than with other constructions and to produce the greatest efficiency should be fully occupied. If, however, the retorts were constructed as a single unit, this would require many different sizes to suit all conditions. It is therefore one of the objects of the present invention to obtain a construction of retort formed in standard units which may be assembled in different numbers to adjust the length to the desired dimension. It is a further object to provide such unit construction which is adapted for use in forming inclined retorts and retorts that taper in depth from front to rear. With these objects in view the invention consists in the construction as hereinafter set forth.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a vertical longitudinal section through one of the retorts of a furnace of my improved construction;

Fig. 2 is a cross section thereof.

As shown, the furnace chamber in which my improved construction of retort is installed has a front wall A, a rear wall B and side walls C. Adjacent to the front wall is a suitable fuel feeding apparatus shown as comprising a hopper D, a fuel pusher E and actuating mechanism F. Extending through the front wall A is a box forming an expanding chamber G and extending rearwardly from this box are the retorts H. These as shown have horizontal bottom plates I which are reciprocated by the stoker mechanism and at the rear end of the horizontal bottom is an upwardly inclined portion J for directing the fuel on to the over grates K in rear of the retort. These over grates discharge on to the dump plate L which is adjacent to the rear wall B. As has been previously stated, the size of the furnace chamber may vary, so as to alter the distance between the front wall A and rear wall B. The dump plate L and over-grates K are of standard construction and are not changed in dimensions for different size furnace chambers, but the length of the retort extending from the front wall A to the over grate section may be altered. If this retort were of uniform height throughout its length, it might be formed of a series of like units but as shown and as preferably constructed, the retort is of a tapering form so that different portions of the length thereof are of different cross section.

To permit of adjusting the length of retort to the available space and also to maintain its tapering form, I have formed it of a plurality of sections, some of which are tapering and at least one of which has parallel horizontal upper and lower edges, the detailed construction being as follows: Each retort section comprises side plates M which at their upper edges are connected to adjacent parallel retort sections by tuyere members N, and at their lower edges are cross con- 20 nected by spaced cross bars 0. The forward and rear ends of each of the plates M are provided with laterally outwardly projecting flanges M which abut against corresponding flanges of the next adjacent section longitudinally of the retort and are connected thereto by bolts passing through apertures M The bottom plates I are slidably supported on the cross bars 0 and the retort as a whole is supported at one or more points by suitable means such as the cross beam P. Thus the space beneath the retorts forms an air chamber from which air is discharged upward through the tuyere sections N to support combustion of the fuel in the retorts which is fed upward from beneath by the operation of the stoker and the reciprocating bottom plates I.

As shown, each retort is formed of three sections, I, 2 and 3, arranged in longitudinal alignment. The sections 2 and 3 are of tapering form and have side plates diminishing in size from front to rear. The section I is, however, of uniform height which is the same as that of the front end of the section 2 and which extends between said section and the front wall of the furnace. This section I may be made in a number of different lengths and by selecting a particular length or combination of twoor more lengths, it may be adjusted to correspond to the available space between the section 2 and the front wall A in the furnace.

Thus the retort may be adjusted in length to correspond to the available space within the furnace chamber by the use of standard units, only one section of which need be varied in length.

What I claim as my invention is:

tuyeres at the upper edges thereof, said retort comprising a plurality of sections arranged end to end, the bottom edges of all of said sections being substantially horizontal, the upper edges of certain of said sections being inclined to progressively decrease the height of the trough, and one or more of said sections having horizontal upper edges of a height above the bottom equal to the greatest height of said inclined-sections.

3. In a stoker, a retort having a plurality of sections arranged end to end the bottom edges of said sections being substantially horizontal, the upper longitudinal edges of certain of said sections being inclined and complementary to each other to form a continuous slope and the upper longitudinal edge of one or more sections being substantially horizontal.

4. In a stoker, a retort having a plurality of sections arranged end to end each including a bottom edge, the bottom edges of said sections lying in a common plane, the upper longitudinal edges of certain of said sections being inclined and complementary to each other to form a continuous slope and the upper longitudinal edges of one or more sections being substantially parallel to the bottom edges thereof and to said common plane.

ROYCE L. BEERB. 

